GREEN BAY, Wis. (June 28, 2006) - The Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour returns in 2006 for its sixth season, and Green Bay, Wis., will host the tour's final stop of the regular season July 12-15. With a $2.69 million total purse, including the no-entry-fee $675,000 Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour Championship on Lake Oahe near Pierre, S.D., Oct. 4-7, and television coverage on FSN (Fox Sports Net), the FLW Walleye Tour is bigger and better than ever.
As many as 150 pros and 150 co-anglers will take on Green Bay for their share of a $503,300 purse, including as much as $100,000 for the winning pro and $18,000 for the winning co-angler.
"About 90 percent of the field will be pulling harnesses," said Yamaha pro Dennis Lantzy of Warren, Mich., who is currently leading the FLW Walleye Tour points race. "There should be a good harness bite, but you can't rule out crankbaits in certain areas."
Lantzy, who has two top-10 finishes in FLW Walleye Tour competition this year, believes that pulling cranks may very well be the "sleeper" of the tournament.
"If you can find fish suspended in deep water and get them to bite the cranks, you'll get the better fish and distance yourself from the crowd," Lantzy said. "Either way, I think it's going to take 20 to 23 pounds a day to make the cut and maybe more depending on the bite."
Green Bay Metro Boat Launch, located at 90 Bay Beach Road in Green Bay, will host daily takeoffs each morning at 7. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday's weigh-ins will also be held at the launch site beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday's weigh-in will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 2440 West Mason Street in Green Bay beginning at 4 p.m. The community is invited to attend daily takeoffs and weigh-ins, which are free and open to the public.
Pros and co-anglers are randomly paired each day and fish for a combined boat weight. Pros compete against other pros, and co-anglers compete against other co-anglers. The full field competes during the three-day opening round for one of 10 final-round slots based on their three-day accumulated weight. Weights carry over to day four, with the winner determined by the heaviest four-day weight.
Every angler who receives weight credit in a tournament earns points, with 150 points awarded to the winner, 149 to second, 148 for third, and so on. These points determine angler standings. The top 50 pros and 50 co-anglers based on year-end points standings will advance to the 2006 FLW Walleye Tour Championship.
The FLW Walleye Tour Championship is the most lucrative event in professional walleye angling, with guaranteed cash awards for the entire field. A guaranteed cash award of $100,000 plus potential sponsor bonuses totaling $50,000 will go to the FLW Walleye Tour Championship winner for a total pro award of $150,000. The champion co-angler will win a guaranteed cash award of $11,000 plus potential sponsor bonuses totaling $11,000 for a total co-angler award of $22,000.
Coverage of the FLW Walleye Tour on Green Bay will be broadcast to 81 million FSN (Fox Sports Net) subscribers in the United States on Sept. 10 as part of the "FLW Outdoors" television program. "FLW Outdoors" airs Sunday mornings at 11 Eastern time. "FLW Outdoors" is also broadcast internationally to more than 350 million households in such countries as Germany, China, South Africa, Australia, Malaysia, Russia, Hungary and the United Kingdom, making it the most widely distributed weekly outdoor-sports television show in the world. Additionally, FLW Outdoors is proud to provide tournament coverage to more than 800,000 servicemembers stationed around the world in 177 countries and aboard Navy ships through broadcasts on the American Forces Network.
Named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood, FLW Outdoors administers the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Series, Stren Series, Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League, Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail presented by Abu Garcia, Stratos Owners' Tournament Trail, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Walleye League, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Tour, Wal-Mart FLW Kingfish Series, Wal-Mart FLW Redfish Series and Wal-Mart FLW Striper Series. These circuits offer combined purses exceeding $37.9 million through 249 events in 2006.
For more information about FLW Outdoors and its tournament programs, visit FLWOutdoors.com or call (270) 252-1000.
Wal-Mart and many of America's largest and most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its tournament trails. Wal-Mart signed on as an FLW Outdoors sponsor in 1997 and today is the world's leading supporter of tournament fishing. For more information about Wal-Mart, visit Wal-Mart.com. |
